Susan Granger’s review of “CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN” (Universal)
Based on Louis de Bernieres’ epic novel, this romantic drama begins in 1940 on the idyllic Greek island of Cephallonia, where Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), the serious, proud daughter of Dr. Iannis (scene-stealing John Hurt), the village physician, is engaged to Mandras (Christian Bale), a fisherman who leaves to fight Mussolini’s forces in Albania. Soon the island is occupied by hedonistic Italian troops and Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage) is billeted in the Iannis’s house. Believing that Mandras has died in battle, Pelagia falls for the charming, fun-loving Corelli, who’s a translator between the Germans and the Greeks. He trains his men to sing, not fight, and says, “I’ve never aimed a gun in my life.” But Mandras has – and he is very much alive, hiding out with the partisan guerrillas. Eventually, Pelagia must choose between the two men. As Dr. Iannis puts it: “When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to work out whether your roots have been so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part, because that is what love is.” Shackled by Shawn Slovo’s shallow, under-developed, overly-simplified screenplay, director John Madden concentrates on the formulaic romance amidst W.W.II conflicts, utilizing John Toll’s sweeping cinematography and Stephen Warbeck’s luscious score. But there’s little on-screen sexual chemistry between Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz, even when he woos her with music by seductively strumming his mandolin, and the conclusion seems anti-climactic. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” is a picturesque, escapist 5. Rent Gabriele Salvatore’s “Mediterraneo” (1991), a similar story that’s far more emotionally effective.
